Alexandria, VA, December 6--The total number of bankruptcies filed in federal courts declined 2.6 percent in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2004, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The total number of bankruptcy cases filed in this 12-month period totaled 1,618,987, down from the 1,661,996 bankruptcy cases filed for the same period in 2003. Despite the drop in filings, bankruptcies remain at historic highs, well above the 1.5 million record first set in 2002. Bankruptcy filings first broke one million during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1996.
Business bankruptcies fell 3.8 percent to 34,817 in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2004, down from the 36,183 filings in the same period in 2003. Non-business (personal bankruptcies) fell 2.6 percent in the same 12-month period, totaling 1,584,170 in 2004, down from the 1,625,813 filings in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2003.
"The drop in consumer cases reflects recent declines in consumer credit delinquencies and credit card defaults," said Samuel J. Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. "Business conditions have benefited from low interest rates and easier access to credit."
Bankruptcy filings under chapters 7, 12 and 13 fell in the 12 month period ending September 30, 2004. Only Chapter 11 filings rose over the same period in 2003.
Chapter 7 filings in the 12 month period ending September 20, 2004 totaled 1,153,865, down 2 percent from the 1, 177,292 cases filed in the same period in 2003.
In the 12 month period ending September 30, 2004 chapter 12 filings totaled 238, falling 65.9 percent from the 698 cases filed in the same period in 2003.
The low number of filings in 2004 was most likely due to the lapse in December 2003 of chapter 12. Filings under Chapter 13 in the 12 month period ending September 30, 2004 fell 4.1 percent to 454,412 from the 473,763 filings in the same period in 2003.
Chapter 11 filings totaled 10,368 in the 12 month period ending September 30, 2004, up 2.2 percent from the 10,144 Chapter 11 bankruptcies filed in the same period in 2003.
